A Youth Group Adventure!
by PoodleWoodle1992
Summary: A church's youth group, all OCs, goes from the live-action world to Oakey Oaks and spends two and a half weeks there. They meet original characters and my CL OCs. This story is told by a member of this group. I do not own anything. Read and review!
1. Getting Ready At The HUB

(Disclaimer: I hereby do not, in any way, shape, or form, own anything except for the new characters. All other trademarks, names, characters, and brands are copyright of their respective owners. I don't even own Disney. I understand that any form of copyright infringement is strictly prohibited.)

Read and review!

Chapter 1: Getting Ready At The HUB

It was 4:00 in the morning in the live-action world. I, Baxter Smith, got out of bed. "Good morning," I whispered to Mom. "Good morning," she replied. "I'll be up in just a few minutes."  
I walked to the guest bedroom and found my dog, Daphne, sleeping on the sofa-bed. I stroked her head and she made pig noises and stretched. She followed me to the living room and looked out the window. I went on the computer, checked my e-mail and Facebook, and turned the TV on to Bay News 9. It said it was going to be cloudy in the morning and sunny later on in the day.  
"There's some light showers over in Lakeland," the meteorologist said. "They would possibly continue until 11 a.m., so drive safely, for those of you over there. Tampa will be very pleased with the weather today. Today will be a high of 75 and a low of 59. Now we'll take a look at Pinpoint Doppler 9000." The TV showed a radar map of the Tampa Bay Area and played the orchestra and drum music.

When it was time for me to go, I took my suitcase, my DS, my iPhone, my PSP, my iPod, and my guitar case. I put all my valuables in my suitcase. I was wearing a light blue t-shirt with a guitar on it, jeans, and my yellow and black Vans. I was ready at 5:30 a.m. I said goodbye and left the house. I drove my 1988 Cadillac Brougham to Krispy Kreme and picked up a lot of donuts of many flavors. With the wind blowing in my long rockstar hair, I drove downtown to the HUB, a place where the youth group hung out on Sunday nights and that was owned by First Presbyterian Church. And waiting for me outside was none other than Tanner White. He was dressed in a dark grey t-shirt, khaki shorts, and black Converse low-tops. "Baxter!" he said as I got out of the car. He gave me a handshake and asked, "How are ya, man?"  
"Awesome. And you?"  
"Not bad. You excited about our trip?"  
"Heck yeah! Let's join the others inside."  
"OK," Tanner said as he smoothed his long, curly hair.

We went inside and there were rows of suitcases lined up against the wall. I went up to McLean Murphy and said hello.  
"You got everything you need?" she asked me.  
"Yes," I said. "I also got a little surprise for everyone." I took the large boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts and put them on the table.  
"Hey Bax, how's your summer going?" Matt Murphy asked.  
"Amazing. I got donuts for us."  
"Cool!"  
Two minutes later, William Allen, Collin Jones, Tyler Jaenicke, Kasey Ward, Rachel Yoshida, and Jenna Engert walked in. I was so thrilled to see them. But how did they all arrive at once?  
I high-fived all of them and asked them if they were excited.  
And guess what? They were.  
"Hey, I came up with a new song," William told me. He sang his version of "I Love To Boogie" by T-Rex. Then we both cracked up.  
"What's up, Baxter?" Tyler said. "I've always wanted to go to Oakey Oaks. They have this field that's like one mile long, and we can try some football there. And a lot of girls there. Oh, they are _hot._"  
"Hey Bax-star!" Jenna said in a singsong voice. "I think you'll be so excited to see the poodle girls there, don't you think? I hope we have some free time every day that we're in Oakey Oaks."  
Collin took a sheet of paper from a table. "What? B+? B+ in English?" He still remembered the funny YouTube video.  
"Like my new haircut?" Kasey asked. She now had a blonde pixie cut hairstyle. I thought it was dazzling.  
Some of the girls in the HUB were dancing to the music coming out of the speakers. The song playing at the moment was "Party In The USA" by Miley Cyrus.

As soon as all the people attending the trip were at the HUB, McLean made an announcement. "OK! I want everyone to get in a circle. We're playing the Name Game first." Everyone sat down in a circle. To play the Name Game, when it's your turn, you have to pat your knees twice, clap your hands twice, and snap your fingers twice while you're saying your name and then someone else's name. If your name is said as the second name by another person, then it's your turn. If it's your turn and you don't say anything while snapping your fingers or if you don't snap or say the names along with the beat, you have to go all the way to the end of the circle.  
William started off. Pat pat clap clap. "William, Collin." Pat pat clap clap. "Collin, Baxter." Pat pat clap clap. "Baxter, Tanner." Pat pat clap clap. "Tanner, David." Pat pat clap clap. "David..."  
David Dunkel got all the way to the end. We had a couple more rounds, and then we played more games, such as Ninja (You had to make an original position and hit someone's hand to get them out, and you had to remain in the new position.), Catchphrase, and Finger War (You had to hold hands with another person, stick your finger out, and try to touch that person with your finger before he/she does it with his/her finger.).

After we played games, I made an announcement. "Hey, I got donuts for everyone!"  
"Woo-hoo!" everyone else chimed in.  
Everyone grabbed a few donuts one person at a time. For myself, I picked a chocolate frosted donut, a chocolate glazed donut, a cruller, a frosted sprinkled donut, an apple fritter, and a powdered sugar donut. All the donuts were still warm. We also poured ourselves some fresh squeezed orange juice and sat down in beanbags to watch the band (which composed of Drew Cappello on drums, Kasey Ward on bass, Tanner White, David Dunkel, Ricky Cagno, and Stephen Griggs on guitar, Matt Murphy on piano and lead vocals, and his wife McLean as an additional singer) play a few Christian rock songs. Afterwards, we did a quick bible study about caring about your friends and God. Tanner was asked to lead the following prayer.  
"Dear God, we just wanna thank You for all You've done for us, and we pray that You'll help us have an awesome time in Oakey Oaks for two and a half weeks. Keep us safe in a whole new world. In Christ's Name we pray, Amen."  
"Also, I'm gonna put you all in groups," McLean said. "And when we're staying at our own place there, one or two people will have a roommate who is a citizen of Oakey Oaks. And don't worry, you'll have some free time." Every member applauded and clapped their hands.  
"AWESOME!"  
"WOO-HOO!"  
"YAY!"

Our hearts were beating rapidly when we started to get put into groups.  
"Stephen Griggs, David Dunkel, and Ricky Cagno."  
"Matt Murphy, me, Drew Cappello, Collin Jones, and Rachel Yoshida."  
"Lauren Muller, Paige Muller, Catherine Weaver, John Howard, and Watson Ransom."  
"Andrew Rametta, Henry Crowder, Stone Barli, and Marin Arsenault."  
"Baxter Smith, Tanner White, William Allen, Tyler Jaenicke, and Jenna Engert." I was with people that care about me! I was happy to be in this group.  
"Kasey Ward, Hinton Rago, Avram Rago, Brittany Rudolph, and Paul Anderson." Avram and Hinton, who were brothers, high-fived each other.  
"Alright, we'll be carpooling as well," McLean said. "Y'all ready?"  
"Heck yeah!" Watson Ransom hooted.  
"I can hardly wait, Baxter," Rachel murmured.  
"You're darn right we are," I said.  
McLean paused for five seconds. "Everyone grab your belongings and let's get out of here! Go! Go! Go!" she told us quickly.  
_"YAHOO!" _we cheered as we grabbed our bags and suitcases and headed outside.  
Our journey began!


	2. Farewell, We'll Miss You!

(Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own anything except for the new characters. All other trademarks, characters, names, franchises, locations, and brands are copyright of their respective owners. I don't even own Disney. I understand that any form of copyright infringement is strictly prohibited.)

Read and review!

Chapter 2: Farewell, We'll Miss You!

My group got into my old Cadillac. I fastened my seatbelt, started the engine, tuned the radio to 101.5 FM (the 80's station), put the car in drive, and drove off.  
"What airline are we flying?" Tyler asked Tanner.  
"I believe it's KLM," Tanner replied, giving everyone their tickets.  
"Oh, I've heard of them!" William exclaimed. "They're excellent. The flight attendants can converse in over 150 languages, even tribal languages. Plus, they give out free beverages and snack boxes for the First Pres Youth Group!"  
"Woo-hoo!" we cheered.  
"I wanna buy a ton of souvenirs to bring back home." Jenna was constantly anticipating the following two and a half weeks.  
William took out some Pep-O-Mint Life Savers and offered them to us. We each took one. Now we would have minty fresh breath for us to have conversations with everyone.  
"Only a few more minutes to the airport!" I told my group. We had just crossed the Kennedy Blvd. drawbridge over the Hillsborough River.

We continued on Kennedy to West Shore Blvd. and turned right. Then we took a left onto Spruce St. after waiting at a stoplight for about 45 seconds. We took the airport expressway and I paid a couple of bucks to park in the garage. A shuttle bus was there waiting for us, so its sliding door opened as we got out of the Cadillac.  
"Good morning, guys," the driver said with a wink of his eye. He closed the door and started driving.  
Suddenly everyone got distracted. "'I. Like. Honey.' Said. Pooh. To. Christopher. Robin." A four-year-old boy was using his LeapPad.  
"Put that away right now," his mother said. "See all the people lookin' at you right now?"  
"Mommy! I'm being good!" the boy whined. "You dirty b****!"  
"You just blew your privilege," his mother said through clenched teeth. She took the LeapPad out of her son's hands.  
"I want my LeapPad! I want my LeapPad! Waaaaahhhhh!" he cried. His mother threw it out the bus window. It was broken and gone forever.  
We all laughed like crazy as the young boy was beside himself.

We got to Departures a minute later and the boy was hitting and punching his mom after we got off the bus. A cop saw the whole thing, so he yelled at him in a very loud voice, handcuffed him, forfeited his ticket, and put him in the back of his police car.  
After we went inside, we received our itineraries and left some of the heavy baggage for the crew to put on the plane. The escalator wasn't crowded at all. We were some of the first people at the airport, including parents, friends who were staying in Tampa, and other relatives. I hugged my grandparents, my parents, my Aunt Jenny, my dad's girlfriend, and my stepfather. I kissed my mom on the cheek.  
"Don't forget to call me while you're there. I'd love to hear from you every day," she said.  
"I think Jesus planned this trip for you guys because He cares about everyone," my grandfather said.  
"Take a ton of pictures and videos," Dad told me.  
"Bye, everyone!" I called as I headed toward the El-train to Concourse C.  
"Bye!" they all replied.  
"May the Lord be in your heart!"  
"Take care!"  
"God bless you!"  
"I'll miss you very much!"  
"Later!"  
I showed my itinerary to the lady and she handed me my boarding pass. My friends and I boarded the El-train and took one last glance at our families. Some of them were even waving with their Kleenexes. We waved at them back.  
"Caution. The doors are about to close."  
"Oh, crap." Rachel hurried before the sliding doors closed. Luckily, she made it. She pointed out that she had been rummaging through her Vera Bradley for her phone. We had to hold onto the poles as the ride began. There was an ordinary view of the road and the palm trees.

Well, security went OK. An officer looked at my ticket and asked me how old I was.  
"Eighteen," I answered her.  
I placed everything made of metal on the conveyor belt along with my backpack, suitcase, and shoes. I walked through the metal detector and headed right to gather all my valuables. I sat down on the bench after I grabbed my shoes.  
"I've never been in a bad situation at security," I chuckled, putting them on.  
"Don't you die on me. No, don't you die on me, boy!" William rapped. He went nuts like you wouldn't believe. He eavesdropped on a random woman in her sixties, snuck up behind her, and quickly tapped her on the head. He then ducked behind a wall.  
"Hey, guys," McLean suddenly announced. "I'm gonna give each person their budget for the whole trip: Five million dollars!"  
We were amazingly dumbfounded. She was kidding, right?  
"Nuh-uh. Nuh-uh. Nuh-uh. No way." Kasey thought it was just a joke. But...  
McLean was actually telling the truth.  
There were screams of delight and war whoops. McLean actually gave all of us five $1000,000 bills for as many purchases we would make. She even gave out another surprise: American Express Gold Cards worth several thousand dollars and quarters, pennies, dimes, nickels, and half-dollars in case we needed to pay in change.  
"I'll meet y'all at gate 20!" she said as her group left. I had the idea of buying candy and drinks to consume later on. My fellow friends agreed to do that as well.

According to the boarding pass I had, we had to go to gate 20 and wait for the plane to show up. All of our youth group had First Class seating. To entertain ourselves, we looked outside the spacious window at the end and watched planes taking off and landing. I saw Avram playing his red Nintendo DS.  
"What game are you playing?" I asked him as I took out a Snickers bar.  
"Kirby Super Star Ultra," he said. "It's one of the most popular DS games."  
There was a YouTube video that had a strong connection to that game. I told him all about it. In the video, this kid has a tantrum about not getting Kirby and his DS back. His dad confronts him about it in the living room while the older brother's playing the DS. The dad tells him to go upstairs and get dressed at the moment. When the kid refuses, he forces him out of the living room and shouts at him in a loud voice. It was hilarious. When I finished telling Avram about the video, I unwrapped my Snickers bar. I threw the wrapper in the trash and polished off the Snickers bar.  
"Hey dude, watch this." Watson Ransom fixed his eyes on an obese six-year-old boy with glasses. He had a cherry Blow Pop in his hand. Watson took it from him ("That's mine!" the boy complained in a raspy voice), unwrapped it, and threw the wrapper at the wastebasket but missed. "Pick it up," he spat at the boy, and the boy obeyed him and put it in the trash.  
But his eyes got glassy. He turned, wiped them, and screeched. He walked away, but he didn't inhale again until seven seconds passed, and he let out a huge cry. His grandmother spanked his bottom three times and pulled him away. "What did I tell you about talking to strangers?" she yelled.  
On my way back from the men's restroom, I saw a bald man in a tuxedo look at the screen with all the flights and the airlines.  
"D-3? Oh, s***!" he cursed. That made me remember the scene for the rest of my life.

Ten minutes later, something caught my eye. Our KLM plane was here! And guess what? It was a gigantic Boeing 747 double-decker. The man at the counter turned on the mic. "Hello everyone, I hope you're ready for flight F-43 to Acorn-Fremont International Airport. It's 9:30 a.m. right now." Then he paused for a minute. "First Class people, you now have permission to board at your leisure. Relax. Take your time, First Class people."  
"Alright, that's us! Let's go!" McLean said.  
We got into a line to verify our boarding passes. I was behind Rachel and in front of William. When it was my turn, I slid my boarding pass into the little slot of the reader and retrieved it to move on. The jetway was a wee bit longer than usual. But it was OK. My boarding pass read "Upper Deck, Row 1, Seat 1C." "Welcome aboard," a flight attendant greeted us as we entered the aircraft. We walked up some stairs to the upper deck, found the First Class seats in the front of the plane, and sat down. 1C was a window seat. William sat in the aisle seat (1A) and Jenna sat in the center seat (1B). I plugged my laptop charger into the electrical outlet and plugged it into the laptop itself. The seats felt like royal thrones.  
We never forgot to put our suitcases in the overhead compartment. We left our carry-ons at our feet.  
"You know, William," I said to my friend, "not all First Class passengers are businessmen."  
"Good call, Baxter. This is the best youth group EVER!" William responded. We high-fived each other.  
Apart from us, it took much longer for the coach people to board the plane and find their seats. Besides, the lower deck was crammed with 140 passengers and screaming babies and toddlers. And all the scrumptious delicacies would run out. When the seatbelt sign lit up, we buckled up in no time.  
"Welcome aboard to flight F-43 to the Oakey Oaks/Fremont vicinity," our captain said through the speaker. "Let's go over the Boeing 747-400 safety information." He talked about the seat belts, the emergency exits, the life vests, cushion flotation, the oxygen masks, the non-smoking light, and the smoke detectors in the lavatories. A flight attendant demonstrated the safety guidelines in front of everyone. "If you need any help, ask one of our flight attendants," the captain said. "Thank you and have a pleasant flight."  
Our plane started to move, and we had all our electronics stowed away. The windsock was blowing in the distance, and the beacon was rotating. The plane had started to taxi, and we passed a sign that read "Thank You For Following Noise Abutment Procedures."  
"Flight attendants, prepare for takeoff," the speaker said.  
The plane slowly turned right onto the runway. As it proceeded down the runway, it went faster than the fastest production car in the world. We got goosebumps as it gracefully soared into the sky. When we were at a higher altitude and all we could see out the window were white cumulus clouds, the seatbelt sign was finally turned off, we started to have free time and move around and go to the bathroom when we needed to. William was texting on his cell phone in airplane mode, Jenna was drawing in her sketchbook, Rachel was telling a story about when she had an unusual experience at a Justin Bieber concert, Collin was listening to his iPod, McLean and Matt were looking at pictures of us on their camera, Avram and Hinton Rago were arm wrestling, Kasey was watching Napoleon Dynamite on her portable Blu-Ray player with headphones on, Tanner was reading a travel magazine, and I was surfing the internet. I checked my e-mail and Facebook and found a myriad of messages from everyone about my trip.  
Now there were only 2 3/4 hours to our destination.


	3. Welcome To Oakey Oaks

(Disclaimer: I hereby do not, in any way, shape, or form, own anything except for the new characters. All other characters, trademarks, names, brands, franchises, and locations are registered trademarks and copyright of their respective owners. I don't even own Disney. I understand that any form of copyright infringement is strictly prohibited.)

Read and review!

Chapter 3: Welcome To Oakey Oaks

"Hey William, whatcha listening to?" I asked William. We were still on the Boeing 747 airplane.  
"Lil Wayne," he replied. "This song is so disgusting."  
A businessman stood up and made his way to the lavatory. He pulled the sliding door open and a woman was in there. There was a loud shriek which made William squawk with laughter.  
"I can't believe you invaded my privacy!" the woman snapped.  
"I didn't even know you were in there," the businessman said. "I walked in because the sign on the door had a 'Vacant' sign. You could've locked the door to switch the sign to 'Occupied.' My apologies, madam."  
"I forgive you," the woman said as she went out of the lavatory to let the businessman in. "I apologize as well," she added.  
"William, give it three more days and a giant acorn would knock you out big time," Kasey warned William, who was repeatedly poking her on the cheek.  
I asked Rachel how she would predict Oakey Oaks would feel like. "Well, I know it has a welcoming feel to it," she told me, "but it's a definite possibility that it slightly changed."  
"Hey Bax-star," Jenna said. I turned towards her. "Yes?"  
"I'm drawing all of us in Oakey Oaks with our new friends with us," she said happily. She was using all seven elements of design: space, shape, line, form, texture, color, and value. When she was finished, she gave it to me to keep it as memorabilia. In the picture, a poodle girl put her arm around me. I did the rock n' roll sign. William was looking up and saying, "I don't think the sky's actually falling." Collin was collecting acorns. Tanner was doing the peace sign. Many others were all standing with us.  
"That picture is EPIC!" Tanner exclaimed. "Jenna, you're one of the best artists I've seen in the past year."  
"Why, thanks!" Jenna replied. "I've been drawing for a few years and I've studied it at..."  
There was a sudden beep and the seatbelt sign was activated again.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing in the Oakey Oaks-Fremont area in just a few minutes," the speaker said. "We ask that you fasten your seat belts as we are beginning our descent."  
The plane descended through the clouds, and we saw nothing but total whiteness out the window. As soon as we saw the land below us, we had just entered the computer-animated (CGI) world. Lush farmland, fields, and oak trees flourished, and the lakes and streams were as blue as the sky. We put away our electronics, sat back down, and fastened our seatbelts. A well-paved road stretched across the field with a single car driving along it. I heard the "whiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrr" of the wheels being activated.  
"Flight attendants, prepare for landing," the speaker said again. I saw a few more streets and houses as we got closer to the ground. The runway was only a few feet below our plane. We felt the wheels making contact with the ground as the aircraft decelerated. Applause ensued. It took three minutes for the plane to get to the terminal.  
"This is your captain," the speaker said. "We have landed at Acorn-Fremont International Airport. There's a cool temperature outside at 61℉ and it's partly cloudy. Thank you for flying KLM. We hope you will enjoy your stay in the vicinity."  
"As Michael Jackson said, this is it," I said excitingly to everyone.  
The plane came to a complete stop at Concourse B, and the seatbelt sign was switched off.

We were excitingly chatting about this experience as we made our way down the steps to the main deck to exit the plane.  
"Enjoy your stay, sir," the flight attendant at the door said.  
"Thanks," I replied.  
The airport had a very clean fragrance inside. I walked through the jetway while thinking about all the anthropomorphic animals we would meet. We had remained humans in the animal world. When we got into the next room with the gates, I found that the animal people were not only looking triumphant but also wearing shoes. We walked through the rest of the concourse, past the security section, went down an escalator, and boarded a subterranean train to baggage claim. We went up a huge escalator to the main baggage claim area. Most of us waited at the oval-shaped conveyor belt to retrieve our heavy luggage. We were told by McLean that we could take any transportation. In case we were driving, we were given sheets with precise directions. But how was my group going to get around?  
"Guess what we're doing," Tanner told me. "What's the plan?" I questioned.  
"We're gonna be renting a car," he said with a smile.  
"Yeah? No way!" I laughed.

On our way to the car rental section, we passed McLean's group and David's group on their way to a bus and a leopard holding a sign that read "The Group Of Avram Rago" in bold letters (obviously, Avram's group was taking a cab). Dollar Rent-A-Car was the best choice as it had ATM-like machines with a variety of car manufacturers and models to choose from. I pushed "Start" and Tanner began to observe. When the "Select Car Make" screen popped up, they didn't have real-world manufacturers like Honda, Dodge, Ford, or BMW. Instead, these were new manufacturers that only existed in this world we were in now. The following were available: Conduit, Breton, Fassett, Tungsten, Saxony, Mavis, Autobahn, PCM, Asgard, Kimbap, and Langton. We found a perfect ride for our group of five: a Breton Chinounette, a compact four-door sports sedan with the rear handles on the windows. "We're getting a periwinkle one," I said.  
"Word up, man." Tanner seemed really pumped up.  
The machine emitted a ticket as soon as I made the purchase. Both of us took it up to the counter, where a male brown bear looked at it closely.  
"OK, what do we got? A light blue 1998 Breton Chinounette, grey interior, manual transmission, for two and a half weeks? Alrighty." He scanned the ticket under a red line in the reader. It beeped, and the bear gave the ticket and the car keys back to us. "Your car is waiting in the garage in the parking spot labeled F381," he said. "Have a good one."  
"You too," I responded.  
William, Jenna, and Tyler ran up to us and gazed at our ticket. "What type of of car is that?" Tyler inquired. "It's gotta be French."  
Tanner was wowed by that statement. "How'd you know it was a French car?"  
"I have a French aunt, and she helped me with the language."  
"You know, they only have these cars in this new world," Tanner stated.

Two minutes later, we took the stairs down to the subterranean rental car garage. "OK guys, it says we gotta look for section F," William informed us. Luckily, section F was nearby. When we got there, I saw F373, F375, F377, and F379 on the right. Tanner pushed the unlock button on the car remote, and the flashing turn indicators on the headlights seemed to belong to the light blue Breton in F381. The other three were shocked.  
"Oh...my...god."  
"Woo-hoo!"  
"That car is the BOMB!"  
The car was in excellent condition, with the paint job reflecting the light. It was Tanner's turn to drive, so I got in the front passenger seat. Jenna, Tyler, and William got in the back.  
"The door handles look so artsy!" Tyler exclaimed.  
"This is one of the BADDEST cars I've ever seen in my life!" Jenna said.  
"You all ready to go to the acorn capital of the world?" Tanner asked us all after he got in the driver's seat.  
"I am PUMPED!" Tyler hooted. We all buckled up our seat belts.  
"Word up! Alright." Tanner inserted the key into the ignition (which was in an awkward location), pushed the clutch down, started the car, put the stickshift into reverse, backed out slowly while revving, put it in first gear, and accelerated.

After many twists and turns, we went up the spiral ramp to the surface. We drove along the airport road towards the Interstate. Whenever we turned onto a street or the stoplight turned green, Tanner drove faster than usual since this car had a manual gearbox. Good thing he didn't stall the engine. I plugged my iPod into the car's auxillary cord and selected "Mercy In You" by Depeche Mode. The stereo system was stellar, with the powerful, vibrating bass. I looked out the window and found out that there were not only the crazy-looking old cars but also newer, more realistic cars. We took the Interstate eastwards to the large city of Fremont, then we took another Interstate northwards through downtown Fremont to the suburban town of Oakey Oaks, home of the best acorns in the universe. We took exit 147 to Grey Crest Road and turned right. We went past some neatly designed homes, crossed a set of railroad tracks, and drove across a covered bridge spanning a creek. Our first stop was the main town square. We took more streets and eventually found something familiar: The red town hall, many shops and restaurants, and the Oaks movie theater. We parked in a spot close by, got out, and closed up the car.

"I want everyone to gather under the old oak tree!" McLean said.  
And waiting there was a large group of middle and high school students who were citizens of Oakey Oaks. They greeted us with happiness.  
"Okay, these are your new friends who'll be your roommates at the youth hostel," McLean stated. "We'll introduce ourselves, First Pres. I'm McLean Murphy."  
"I'm Baxter Smith."  
"I'm Tanner White."  
"I'm William Allen II."  
"I'm Collin Jones."  
"I'm Jenna Engert."  
"I'm Kasey Ward."  
"I'm Paul Anderson."  
"I'm Avram Rago, and this is my brother, Hinton."  
"I'm Matt Murphy and I'm McLean's husband."  
"I'm David Dunkel."  
"I'm Ricky Cagno."  
"I'm Drew Cappello."  
"I'm Stephen Griggs."  
"I'm Rachel Yoshida."  
"I'm Paige Muller, and this is my twin sister, Lauren."  
"I'm Catherine Weaver."  
"I'm Tyler Jaenicke and I play football."  
"I'm Brittany Rudolph."  
"I'm John Howard."  
"And I'm Watson Ransom."  
McLean then asked the Oakey Oaks crew to introduce themselves.  
"I'm Simon Prescott," a male dog said. He was wearing a sky blue T-shirt with a bone on it.  
"I'm Carlos Martinez," a male leopard said. He sported a teal ringer tee.  
"I'm Corky Dawson," a male Dalmatian said.  
"I'm Kylie Hornish," a female rabbit said.  
"I'm Diane Cotton," a female poodle said. She was wearing a mint green T-shirt, black shorts with red stripes, and red Converse high-tops.  
Wait a minute. _Did she just say Diane Cotton? _I thought. How did she become a poodle?  
"I'm Larry Irving," a male brown bear said.  
"I'm Clarissa O'Donaghue," a female white poodle in a red T-shirt said.  
"I'm Jeff Swindon," a male raccoon said.  
"I'm Nick Kowalski," another male bear said.  
"I'm Sally Armstrong," a female cat said.  
"I'm Todd Bundy," a male red fox said.  
"I'm Quentin Johnson," a male goose said.  
"I'm Toshi Matsumoto," a male black cat said.  
"Wait! Wait!" Everyone turned around. It was the infamous Chicken Little, running as fast as his tiny Adidas tennis shoes could carry him.  
"And last but not least, Chicken Little," Rachel muttered.  
"I just found out the sky's not falling until the very distant future! And those alien invasions won't wreck the town again."  
"I guess he's not a crazy little chicken after all," I said.  
"Roommate choosin' time!" McLean said in a singsong voice.

According to McLean, John and Watson got Carlos, Rachel got Toshi, David and Stephen got Jeff, Ricky got Todd, Collin got Nick, Paige and Lauren got Kylie, Tyler got Corky, Avram and Hinton got Simon, Drew got Quentin, Jenna and Brittany got Sally, Catherine got Larry, Paul got Clarissa, William got Chicken Little, and Tanner and I got Diane. For five minutes, we got to talk with them about ourselves. "Baxter!" someone said. I felt a furry hand touch my shoulder. I quickly turned around. It was Diane! "I'm ecstatic that you're here!" she rejoiced.  
"Long time no see!" I replied. We then hugged each other really tight.  
"Awwwwww," the others chorused.  
We talked and talked and then McLean announced that it was time for us to rest for a while at the hostel. My group got back in the car and went to the youth hostel. It had an internet cafe, a game room, an indoor swimming pool, a jacuzzi, a sauna, an exercise room, a dining room, and a gift shop. The receptionist gave Diane the keycard to our room and Tanner and I followed her upstairs to room 152. She swiped the card in the slot and a green light flashed to indicate that the door had been unlocked. We stepped into our spacious suite, complete with a bedroom with two queen-sized beds, a Samsung flat-screen HDTV, and a bedside table with a phone; a kitchen with a fridge, an oven, a dishwasher, and a rotary dial microwave; a living room with a comfortable sofa, an ottoman, a desk, and another TV; and a bathroom with a modern sink, a toilet with a unique flush lever, and a modern bathtub with a shower head. The water system was in great condition, and the A/C was blowing.  
"Who's ready for lunch at Johnny Rockets?" Diane asked.  
"You know, that's one of the best restaurants EVER," Tanner said. "Let's do this!"  
We took Diane's car, a silver 2001 Asgard Juggernaut, and we had a delicious lunch at the restaurant. We were so glad we went on this trip.


End file.
